George eichenseer



@attra MPROVBMET IN THRESEING MACHINES.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: I

Be it known that LGEORGE ECHENsEER, of Waterloo, in the county ot' Monroe, and `State of Illinois,rhaven invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Machines for Threshing and Separating Grain; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and true description thereof, referenee'being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference thereon. i

The nature of my invention is, firstly, in the construction of the forward end of my machine so that the same may be adjusted vwith reference to its height from the ground, and thereupon steadied'in its position; secondly,.in the adjustable arrangement of the driving-pulley in conformity with the position ofthe driving-belt; thirdly, in the adjustable arrangement of the thresher-cylinder with reference to the feed-plate fourthly, in the adjustable arrangement of the shakingframes; fifthly, in a drop guide-plate, for arresting and detaining grain under the action of the fan-blast; sixthly, in the arrangement of certain conduits in connection with an elevator for returning st'uil not`fairly threshed to the threshcr-cylinder.

To enable those skilled in the arts to inakc and use my improved machine, I will nowdescribe its-detail construction and operation, having reference to the drawings, of which Figure 1 is a side elevation.

Figure 2 a front `end elevation.

Figure 3 a vertical section along the line a: y of the plan.

Figure 4 a rear end elevation.

Figure 5 a top plan.

- Figures 6 and 'i' being bottom views ofthe power-pulley and connections. v

I support my said thresher on the frame A, resting on axles B, bearing wheels C. One end of A is rmly secured to its underlying axle B; the other end is secured to B by a king-bolt, a. By turning this it raises the nut through whiehwit passes in the transverse bar of A, and thus the frame A and the entire `machine receive uvertical adjustation. The bolts al, passing through A each side of a, when brought to a bearing on B,secure 'the machine in its position. The machine is prevented from being drawn by the power-belt in the usual manner.

To transmit the driving power to my said machine I use the device marked E. The shaft hereof, shown as e, is Secured at its. upper end in a bearing, el, to a frame-piece of A, the said bearing allo-wing a lslight vibratory motion of e; The lower end of the. shaft e rests on sliding-bearing e2, which, at one end, rests onB; at the other end it is supported by the sliding-bar e3, the ends whereof are guided in curved ways, e, as shown in fig. 3. The forked screw-bar e? takes hold of the bearingez; at the other end e5-passes the4 nut e", secured against lateral motion bythe frame A. When, therefore, e6 is turned by'a proper handle, the sliding-bearing E2 is moved, and the. position ofthe sl1at't e,'with reference to a vertical line, is changed. Thus the position of thc.`4

nlle e7 on e ma Lbe suited to the elevation ofthe drivin -belt D, and to the osition ofthe ower source. nr P y y g P P order that no damage may result from a sudden stoppage of the belt D, I arrange the projection e on the shatiie. A ratchet'catch or pawipq", of el, by pressingagainst es, carries the shaft e with the pulley so long as theV pulley e7 isklil'iveni When, liowevenee7 suddenly ceases motion, the pawl eg leaves` es in the continued motioxr. of e, as is seen from figli; To the bearinglblock e2 I attach by a shaft a second pulley, e, and a third pulley,l e, to the frame A. Suid pulleyl e and el2 being ,used to wrap the belt D thereon in transportation, and elli heilig also used as a guide-roller and tightenerto the beltl D when in motion. The shaft e transmits its power to the horizontal bevel-wheelrf, which gears into the opposite bevel pinionsyc1 actuating the shaft g. From ther relative positionoff andfhafslight vibration Aof the shaft e does not aifect the transmission of power. The shaft g is supported in'parts' of the l'rame A, and at its outer ends carries the pulleys gl and g. One end of the shaft g also carries the gear-wheel g3, which drives the pinion h1 on the horizontal shaft t. The shaft h drives the threshing device H. O'n the shaft'h is the drum k, studded with cutter-teeth, h3, set in the line of a screw. The teeth h3, in the revolution of h and h3, pass between Vthe similar teeth set in the feed-plate t, as shown in figs. 3 and 5. The lfeed-plate h4 is secured in a hinged bearing, h5; at the front cnil it is held by the bar 7i, and-1A nut t'f; this nut beingsccured -to the frame A, the feedplate may, by its aid, be adjusted with referenceto the thrcsher-cylinder itz, and; thus controlli-ng the feed ot' unthreshed stuff. The metallic, tlanges hs, at thc-ond 'of l k7', turn justoutside of the vertical edge of the feed-plate h4; lthey act as guides to the grainfand serve as {lywheels. In order that the crevices between he and h4 may not choke with grain, I have placed on h2, and contiguous to hs, the teeth Zt", which, in4 the. revolution of h2, clean said crevice. To adjust the threshercylindcr h2 horizontally and transversely with reference to Zt, I arrange, at cach end of the shaft ZL, the set-screws hw; these screw into the bearings of h, and, by turning the crank-arms of Zim, and securing them in position b y the set-screws Zi, the lateral adjustment of the shaft Zt and cylinder h2 is effected. The grain passes, after being fed to the feed-plate ZV?, between this plate and the thresher-cylin'der in the usual manner, and on to the receivingplate z', from which it is forced to the separating devices K. These devices act to separate ythe grain kernels from thestraw, chaff, smut, and other impurities, and the arrangement here presented is in nowisc claimed asy new, but as being improved in its operation. As is usual, I employ a series of sieves; these I place in proper' frames; thus the frame Al contains the sieves and Zcand A*2 contains the sieves lc?, the return feed-plate k3, and chaff-discharge plate c.r The frame A1, at its forward end, rests on rolls secured in the frame A; at the rear end it is supported by rock-arms, Z1; near their lower ends these are held on rock-shaftlbolts, Z2, which are fastened in the supports Z3 on the frame A.A By changing the position of the bolts Z2, the-length' of vibrating arm from A1 to Z2 may be varied to suit thestroke of the shaking-frame Al. A1 receives a reciprocating motion from the pitman Z, secured by a crank to the shaft g. From the receiving-bed z' the grain is sent tothe first separator-sieve 7c; (to expedite .this'motion z' may be securedto the frame A1.) The sieve k is formed of longitudinal wooden slats, notched to prevent lthe' return of grain, as shown in iig. 3. About one-half of the first part of k is bottomed by a plate, il, in order that the grain kernels may be properly dropped to the fan below.

`At the rear ends oft' and z', I arrange the lifters or cleaning-fingers 'm on the shafts m1. A pendulous motion is given to m by the arms m3 secured to the shafts m1; the arms m3 being held in bolts, m4, fixed in the frame A, the reciprocating motion ,of Al causes a vibration of m3. The shafts ml being squared at their joints with m3, they make the same angular motion producedin m3. thus transmitting the same to the fingers m, whereby these lift the straw fromv the kernel, and otherwise act to separate the threshed materials. Such grain as does not pass over the rear end of c drops on to the sieve k1, made-similarly to Z2, only changed therefrom by shortening the alternate slats at the rear to prevent clogging, and ease the discharge of straw. Immediately below the rear end of A1, arrangethe frame A2, sustained at its forward end by rounded knobs on A, and at the rear 'end by a bolt-rod, n, (figs. 2 and 3,) passing through the rock-arms Z1. By the attachment here made the shaking motion of A2 is less than that of A1, this being so designed because the sieves of A1 receive the coarser materials.

In A]l is, near its forward end, the guide-plate-nl, to feed the grain to the sieve k2; thisl sieve is retained in A7' 'by the'bolt n, and rests at its forward endV on a transverse piece of AZ. From k2 the grain drops to the feed plate k3, also secured in A2. At the rear of k2, and in its framing; is secured the chaff-discharge plate ci, as

shown in fig, 3, enlarged; from this light grain drops to the conduit o below. Opera/ting in connection with the'l devices just described is the fan device P; of this the fan-shaft p is driven by the pulley p1, and `belt fromr'the pulley g2, before mentioned. In-the manner usual the rotation of fans here causes an air-current toward the shaking-sieves lc, k1, and k2. To render the action more effective, the check feed-plate k3 is" arranged under the sieve cz; the grain kernels dropping on k3 roll towards the fan draught; thus the grain is thoroughly cleansed from ehalf, this being blown towards the chaff-discharge Zc4, and to the conduit o. From 7c3 the grain drops to .the drop guide-plate Zc, which is guided in the frame A, and may be adjusted in position by rods k6, and the hand-levers k7.. From cf" the grain is dropped to wire sieve p2 this delivers the grain to the conduitp, from whence it is drawn off at will., .Toguide the air blown from the fan J, I arran e the vane 4 su p orted on the l g 10 1 IP shaft p5 in the framevA. To turn the vane p, use the handles p6. Thus by properly using the nandlesp6 and. k7 to adjust the vane p4and drop guide-plate It, the action of the machine isl suited to kinds of impurity and.;

weight of grain acted upon. To aid the discharge of grain from the sieve p2, this receives a shaking motion in a lateral direction. This I arrange by extending an arm to receive the rod Z4, acting on the lever Z5, supported on A. Z5'also receives the rod Z7, .operating the lever ZS,-and the rock-shaft Z9, as shown in fig. 3. Below the frame A a lever, Z1, support/s the conduit 103, connected by a hook-bolt with p2. The reciprocating motion transmitted to p3 is therefore als'o given to the sieve p2, as stated. The lighter stuff, as was stated, is delivered from the separator sieves to the chaff-discharge plate k, and to the conduit o; at one end this is supported by an arm, 01, on the vertical rock-shaft Z5, fig, 3;) at its other end it rests ou the frame A. The vibratory motionl imparted to o by its connection with Z" delivers the grain -to a box, o2. TheI heavier impurities, such as smut, fall into the conduit o3, Which,'at its high'e'l nnd7 rests on an arm, q, connecting with the shaft Z and communicating to o3 a shaking motion. The forward end of o3 rests on the frame A.` Hereo3 connects with a conduit', o4. Within o4 a'door, 05, is arranged, so that the connection between oaeand o4 cariy be closed. This is done when the stuff delivered by o3 is worthless. 9 When o5 is opened, the stuff will pass through o4 to the spout g, and to the elevator to be again operated upon.- Similarly the pipe o2 discharges the unthreshed grain from o to the spout g. From the spout g the unihrcshed Aand otherwise valuableV material is, by the elevator device R, raised to the conduits, and by it delivered upon the feed-plate h4, to again pass the thresher and separator.. Said elevator device is composed as follows: The usually metal pulleys 1', flanged at edges and open at their centres, receive `the band r2; to this the buckets r3 Aare riveted so as to open on the inner surface; thus any grain dropping from the bucket will be caught bythe band and followingbuckets. The upper-pulley r has connected with it thc belt-pulley r driven by the belt from the pulley g1, formerly described. At' the highest point of ascent the buckets rl discharge upon the plate r3, from whence grain rolls to' the conduit. This conduit receives a reciprocating motion by its support upon a bar, s1, connected with the upper end of the arm Z1, thus aiding the passage of grain down s. I l

Having thus fully describedzmy said machine and its operation, what I claim, is-

1. The combination of the screw-bolts a arid al, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

nesses also subscribing hereto.

e5, and handle-nut e, all actingsubstantiailly :1s :md for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination of the pulleys en and e. for packing the driving-hand D, substoniully as and lfor the purpose set forth. i

4. The cutter-teeth hg, for cleansing the crevioes between 'the flanges hg ancl' the feed-plate it, as set for-thi 5. The application 'of the drop guide-plate It, :Ls set forth.

6. The combination of the conduits o3 and o4 with the door o5, substantially7 :Lsand for thc: purposes set forth.

7, The combination of a. feed-plate, h", arranged for vertical adjustments, with the thresler-cylinder 71.2, mrngedfor lateral horizontal adjustments; substantially as set forth. I

8. The combination of' the separators fcyand k2, with th return-Feed platte 7a3, clinfl`7diselmrge' plate and guide drop-platek, all with tho nir-currents :ulynsted :unl Clirocterl by the vancp", suhstantinllyns set forthr`` In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hund this twentyitlx of August, 1866, in presence of the wiki 2. The combination of the shaft e, its beu1'ing-bloclc e2, and sliding-bar es, the ways e4, with the screw-bar GEORGE EICHENSEER.

Witnesses GEO. P. HERTHEL, Jr. -M. RANDOLPH. 

